C Web Server for Windows

A lightweight, multi-threaded HTTP server built in C for the Windows operating system. This server uses the Windows Sockets API (Winsock) to handle incoming network connections and is capable of serving static web content.

Features

• HTTP/1.1 Compliant: Handles basic GET requests from clients.
• Multi-threaded: Utilizes Windows threads to manage multiple client connections concurrently without blocking.
• Static File Serving: Serves local files such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and images.
• MIME Type Detection: Automatically determines the correct Content-Type for common web file formats.
• Error Handling: Responds with appropriate HTTP status codes, including 404 Not Found for missing files.
• Lightweight: Built with standard C libraries and the native Windows API for minimal overhead.

Prerequisites

To build and run this project, you will need:

• A Windows operating system.
• A C compiler installed and configured for your system, such as MinGW (GCC) or Microsoft Visual C++.

How to Build and Run

1. Clone the Repository: Make sure all project files (server1.c, index.html, about.html, img.jpg) are in the same directory.

2. Compile the Code: Open a command prompt or terminal in the project directory and compile the server source code.

   If you are using GCC (MinGW), run the following command. The -lws2_32 flag is necessary to link the Winsock library.

   gcc server1.c -o webserver.exe -lws2_32

   If you are using the Microsoft Visual C++ compiler (cl.exe), you might use a command like this from a Developer Command Prompt:

   cl server1.c /link /out:webserver.exe Ws2_32.lib

3. Run the Server: Once compilation is successful, an executable file (webserver.exe) will be created. Run it from the terminal:

   .\webserver.exe

   You should see a confirmation message that the server is running:

   Server is running on http://localhost:8080
   

4. Access the Content: Open your web browser and navigate to the following URLs to see your static pages:

   • Home Page: http://localhost:8080/index.html
   • About Page: http://localhost:8080/about.html
   • Image: http://localhost:8080/img.jpg

Project File Structure

• server1.c: The main source file containing all the logic for the web server, including socket setup, listening for connections, and handling client requests in separate threads.
• index.html: The default landing page for the website.
• about.html: A secondary page providing more information.
• img.jpg: An image asset that can be requested from the server.
• webserver.exe (after compilation): The final executable program.